STG Investigative Report : Doctor Ganar Okeer
by LogicalPremise
Summary: An in-universe summary of my AU version of Doctor Okeer. Please note this is HEAVILY AU and should not be taken as a canon resource. Nothing particular bad.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:** Timeframe on this is about a year before Okeer's death._

* * *

 **-STG – STG – STG-**

STG Report on the Warmaster Okeer

Senior Agent Gherruld to the STG Master

As requested, I've put together an initial briefing document covering everything we currently know regarding Doctor Ganar Okeer. The krogan in question has a number of titles, both honorary and self-claimed, but the most common are Warmaster, Warlord, Eternal, and War-Father.

In particular, 'Warmaster' is a particularly controversial claim, as it implies he, and not the line of Urdnot, should be rightful war leader of the krogan people. This is somewhat disputed, especially in light of the fact that Okeer killed the Emperor who gave him the title in the first place. Given Okeer's wars upon the Urdnot prior to the uplift and his participation in the Genophage project, not to mention his attack at the Spire, Okeer would already be vastly hated. The fact that he freely experiments on other krogan and kills any challengers only fuels such hatred.

As with all reports, by necessity, this document is not all inclusive with details, but instead provides high-order information that can be queried in depth at a later time. Much of the information was gathered via second-hand reporting and in some cases even required archeology. (This is not a typo.) Okeer is extremely old, dangerous and incredibly saavy and cannot be treated as other krogan. He is not only a powerful combatant, but a brilliant scientist, a talented doctor, a skilled war leader, and a masterful politician.

This file is classified Virshan-Orange. The original was classified Dashan-Black. This is the eight hundred and thirty third Orange Section file since the origination of the first Special Task Order given by Dalatrass Shiron herself, and the sixty-fifth reiteration and update of the original dossier on Okeer.

 **Caution : Read FIRST:**

All information on Okeer is based on four sources: existing historical accounts records, eye-witness accounts, extranet information, and accumulated scans and examinations. Under no circumstances can this file be assumed complete, and as always assume that this file is a _baseline_ of his abilities, not a comprehensive coverage. Okeer delights in foes underestimating or mistaking his intentions and abilities, and we cannot assume anything.

Okeer is most likely one of the most lethal combatants in space, combined with genius level intellect and thousands of years of hard experience. In terms of raw physical power he is unequaled. In terms of danger, only Tetrimus, the Broker himself, and the High Solarch can match him. His capacity for forethought and advanced planning is legendary, and his lack of fear and amused dismissal of threat indicates, based on our krogan psychological information, that he is actually _uncaring_ of the idea of dying.

Given that fear of death is the primary tool in preventing most sentient beings from engaging in whatever activities they like, he is considered extremely dangerous. Combined with his durability, experience, and strength, he is an opponent that is best handled with extreme caution should he become hostile. Thus, per standing order eleven-alpha-alpha, STG units engaging into combat with Okeer are to fall back at top speed and call for orbital bombardment. (Yes, this is an order from the era of the origins of the STG. Okeer is _ancient_.)

* * *

 **-STG – STG – STG-**

 **GANAR RETHET OKEER**

 **Overview:**

 _Formal Titles_ : High Warmaster of the Krogan Empire (defunct), Warlord (by right of clan), Doctor of Medicine (Sur'kesh Academy of Science, doctorate; Thessian Ellistory of Medical Arts, doctorate)

 _Nicknames_ : The Eternal

 _Race_ : Pre-genophage krogan. Genetic markers indicate he is infected but not showing the glandular modifications of the Genophage. This has been flagged as a Black-Collapse-Nine item for over a thousand years. When questioned on it, Okeer merely laughed.

 _Age and sex_ : ESTIMATE of age is 5,700 plus. Exact date of birth unknown. Okeer claims he is over _seven thousand years old_ , radiocarbon dating of original inhabitance confirms this range is well within possibility. Krogan male.

 _Wealth:_ Difficult to ascertain. Maintains wealth off of Tuchanka in the range of sixty to eighty million credits. Unknown reserves of valuable metals and artifacts housed on several different worlds estimated at fifty million. Ganar Clan assets on Tuchanka roughly six to eight million. Given his age and breath of resources, caches and hiding spots probably hold much more. Okeer has access to at least several light cruisers and a small number of smuggler style craft, and held suites on Ilium, Hestas VI, and even in the Black Rim.

 _Psychological Summary_ : The best fit we can derive based on his actions is that he fits (roughly) into the Disdainful-Active quadrant of oppressive personalities. Prizes knowledge, honor by his own codes, physical prowess, and deceit. (Curious combination of concepts.) No know pathologies, although exceedingly dismissive of all forms of life and inured to even horrific experiments on his own people much less other aliens. Capable of extreme levels of cordiality and is very capable at diplomacy and dissembling, as well as hiding his true motives.

 _Military Summary_ : Last military records during the Krogan Wars against the Rachni. Okeer was instrumental in the final battles and slew the Queen Matriarch in single combat, after she had killed nearly half of the Loresingers and battlemasters in the final combat. Acclaimed battlemaster by thousands of krogan over the centuries. Known skills include EXTREME hand to hand and CQB capabilities, knowledge of piloting, navigation, computer programming, hacking, military planning, tactical planning, traps, chemistry and medical knowledge, genonanotech, and other fields.

 _Education:_ Unknown from Tuchanka but possessed advanced knowledge of krogan physiology during the Uplift. Educated himself for fifty years in both salarian and asari universities, earning very high marks. Continued to write scientific papers and books until present date.

 _Employment_ : None. Formerly, warmaster of Krogan Empire. Standing offers of employment from over two hundred universities and an open offer to act as 'champion of the asari court', all of which he has ignored for the most part.

 _Significant Family_ : At least sixty confirmed children. Extended family beyond count. Given his very long life span, it is possible he has sired hundreds of children. He has at least four living and six deceased asari offspring as well, including one from House T'Armal and two in Clan Steelshape.

 _Overall Threat Rating:_ Black-Collapse Eight.

* * *

 **Historical Notes:**

The history of Okeer is _extremely_ long, and much of it cannot be confirmed due to the destruction of large swaths of Tuchanka prior, during, and after both the Uplift and the Krogan Rebellions. He claims to have been born of the lost Tribe of Kargan, which splintered into Urdnot, Balur, and Ganar some seven thousand years ago. Okeer's father was supposedly the primogenitor of the Ganar, who broke with the Urdnot and Balur over hunting grounds.

Moving north of the Keplhic Valley, the Ganar (and Okeer) settled beyond the wastelands in a mountain valley region along with several allied tribes. As the krogan moved through their early period of late development the Ganar crushed the Balur almost completely, but in doing so alienated most of the clans. The war was touched off based on resource issues, and it was Okeer who managed to construct artesian well systems below the rocks of the mountains allowing the Ganar to outlast sieges and the like.

Okeer in legends was accounted as brilliant, with endless inventions and weapons of war credited to his name. Most krogan of that time saw his might and intellect only rivaled by that of Urdnot Tharx.

When the krogan Wars of Blood ended with the Crush of Crushes, and the tribes finally united under Clan Urdnot, Ganar was the main clan to oppose them. Krogan histories confirm that as of over four thousand years ago Okeer was already over a thousand years old and considered an elder and Warlord of the Ganar. He claimed to have fought the leader of the Urdnot, Tharx, and was defeated only by the biotic power of the latter – it is notable that Tharx never fully recovered from his wounds taken in this fight. While the rule of Clan Urdnot was light, it rankled against the Ganar, Okeer especially.

Okeer spent a great deal of time after that developing krogan science and culture – he is the father of all krogan medicine, performed the majority of krogan scientific research, and invented gunpowder style weapons of several varieties. Many krogan found no use in such things, or disdained his focus on them, an attitude that infuriated him.

Okeer's history from the end of the Wars of Blood is relatively unimportant until the time of the Uplift, when early salarian exploration teams seeking a counter to the asari military power and threat of the rachni discovered the krogan. Okeer was very polite and made a strong impression on the scouts with his erudition and intellect, even without a level of educational prowess to match ours. When the dalatrasses met to approve the uplift, it was the eloquence of Okeer who made them decide to do so from a position of partners rather than installing strong controls on krogan aggression.

Okeer's darkness manifested when the krogan people selected Urdnot as the ruling Emperor, and further when the Emperor refused to listen to Okeer's warning about what the rachni war would do to the krogan. His predictions were, sadly, correct – the rachni wars slew most of the more level headed and peaceful krogan, shattered krogan verbal traditional loresongs, disrupted their method of governance and left hundreds of millions of aggressive, violent orphans under an Emperor more concerned about glory and power than the welfare of his people.

The Emperor made Okeer Warmaster, but did not listen to his advice. Okeer's tactics solidified the Emperor's control over the fractious clans, but the Emperor disdained Okeer's plea to turn the krogan people towards rebuilding their shattered culture. He pushed a militant, aggressive stance that gloried in war and claimed other races were holding them back. For a long time it was only Okeer's desperate diplomatic efforts that staved off the Council stopping the krogan with force, but eventually the Emperor pushed too hard.

When the Krogan Emperor declared war on the Citadel, Okeer and his clan formally revolted, slaying all but one of the Emperor's sons and destroying the main scientific labs and facilities Okeer himself had so painstakingly constructed. He worked closely with the STG to come up with methods of forestalling the obliteration of his people, while remaking them into a race that would one day be able to stand amidst the corridors of the Citadel and interact with other species.

Given that the turian and salarian suggestion for dealing with the krogan threat was to orbitally bombard Tuchanka until it was a glowing pile of slag, he argued – and eventually convinced – the Council that it was krogan birth-rates, unadjusted for the massive drop in mortality to krogan as a result of the Uplift, that was the problem. Shorn of endless hordes of krogan younglings too blind and rage-filled to fight, the Emperor would be forced to surrender.

The Genophage horrified the asari – but Okeer was the one pushing it. It quickly became apparent that the krogan were pushing the turians to the limit, despite the Palavanus blunting many krogan assaults. As krogan committed atrocity after atrocity, Okeer's temper shortened and he grew despondent.

When the Genophage was nearly ready, there was a vast argument about if it should be used, given that the final form the STG wanted was not viable. The original idea – to weaken the krogan by simply reducing fertility – was accompanied by the horrifying side effect that those it affected would give birth to stillborn and mutated krogan. The turians – in heavy combat with the krogan and losing in some areas where the Palavanus did not lead the fight – wanted to use it immediately, but the STG master at the time threatened to destroy it rather than have that happen – feeling an incomplete Genophage could be reversed and unleashing the krogan as a future threat once more.

When the STG decided it would be simpler to completely obliterate the krogan, Okeer slew the lead researcher with his hammer and stopped STG units from disrupting the dispersal while the turians triggered it. Okeer was arrested and tried, but the turians saw him as a patriot and honorable and he was released. The Justicar Order had some issue with this, and surprisingly, Okeer submitted himself to their justice – challenging them, saying that if they could defeat him in single combat he would gladly submit to death for him and all his clan. He battled (and crushed badly) the leader of the Justicar Order, and returned once a century from then onwards to continue to do so. Eventually these fights became merely show, a ritual of penance of sorts.

Not long after the Rebellions collapsed, as Okeer's people spread tales that the Genophage was actually a curse from the Gods.

We are almost certain Okeer (who was involved in both the design and testing of the Genophage) knew enough about how it worked to remove it. Certainly, his own clan was NOT affected, instead following a sick ritualistic culling of all but the most perfect (in krogan eyes) of babies to keep their numbers down. When the truth came out about the Genophage due to a guilty Lythari, the krogan turned against the Ganar clan en masse.

Okeer evacuated them with the cooperation of the CDEM, and for over a thousand years the Ganar clan wandered Citadel space. Okeer himself and his sons mostly studied at universities, educated themselves and consumed asari, salarian and turian culture. He spent over two centuries as a combat instructor to the House of T'Armal, and was much beloved by Thana T'Armal in her youth, doting on her and teaching her how to fight. He spent time among turians, the hanar, even the batarians.

As those who remembered the Rebellions died out, the attitude many developed of the krogan was based on that of Okeer and his brood – that of strong, somewhat violent but ultimately deeply intellectual and spiritual people. As more krogan began to emerge into the galaxy, however, this faded, until Okeer was seen as the exception to the rule – or a sign of what krogan society was before its fall.

Okeer began vanishing with his clan into the Terminus systems almost five hundred years ago; coming back once a century so that he could participate in ritualized combat with the Justicar Mistress. On his most recent return, he began buying up odd properties and his clan turned into a mercenary force of surprising strength. Our clear perception of what he was up to during this time – and what exactly occurred with his interactions with the Broker – is still under investigation.

* * *

 **Motivations:**

It is the height of arrogance to attempt to grasp the motivations of a being this ancient, especially when he has taken great pains to conceal his ideals. The best projections we can determine are that Okeer's primary goal is the evolution and development of the krogan people – or at least, some subset of them – into a race superior to other citadel races.

His secondary motivation would appear to be the destruction of any form of krogan culture that glorifies what he considers 'barbarism', and to shape krogan into a force using intellect and durability, rather than numbers and brute violence, to win wars.

Keep in mind that these are only guesses. His longer plans and ultimate goals could be literally anything, and given that krogan do not die of old age and that most that make it past a millennia are almost invincible means he has all the time in the world to plan. We have surmised that he probably plans to lead the reformed krogan – but in what manner remains unclear.

* * *

 **Organizations and Affiliations:**

Formally, Okeer maintains no affiliations with any group aside being the Warlord of the Ganar Clan. Unofficially he has done work for a dozen biotech firms and participated in all manner of mercenary and possibly pirate activity, is in constant communication with the Justicars and other elements of asari society, and (as you well know) has advised the STG and the SIX from time to time on various krogan issues.

* * *

 **Tactics:**

Okeer does not specialize at any particular range, being very dangerous at all of them. His primary weapons include spike launchers, heavy machine guns, ion bombards, grenades, omni-projected plasma fields, and his hammer. His armor is a suit of master-crafted plating (Ghandis armor, the precursor to proper Silaris forged processes) made by Clan Steelshape over a thousand years ago, one of the finest suits of battle armor in the galaxy, plated in the melted bronze of the Krogan Emperor's throne.

 _Specific Tactical Methods, Ground Combat:_

Long range: In long range combat Okeer prefers to use heavy weapons to control range, relying on the shock value and 'splash' to wear foes down before either closing range or attacking directly. He is not above laying traps and forcing targets into them with heavy weapons fire. His preferred long range weapons are elcor ion bombards and krogan grail heavy spike launchers (usually modified to explosive variants).

Okeer is also the only known krogan who regularly engages (and even finds amusement in) sniping, and has long relied on a custom built turian sniper rifle.

Medium range: Okeer is surprisingly nimble at mid-range and a very good marksman. He will utilize heavy machineguns like rifles, fully capable of damping down the feedback of a LMG to almost nothing and thus able to hold long streams of burst fire directly onto a target. Combined with his natural durability this means most mid-range combat involving trading firepower will always end in a loss for his opponent.

Okeer will react to attempts to close with him with grenades, both to wound and disorient. He is not above using traps and ambushes, and will not, unlike other krogan, surrender cover or range advantages to close to melee range if he is winning at medium range.

Short range: As terrifying as Okeer is at long and medium range, close and melee combat is simply not survivable by anything except extremely durable cyborgs or other krogan. Okeer's chosen weapon is a hammer weighing over seventy kilos called 'God-Splitter'. This hammer is equipped with some form of energy generating field, a spray of black electrical discharge that causes nerve disruption or paralysis when it hits. A direct hit from this weapon killed a Shieldbreaker in a single blow. In close, Okeer will disdain the use of grenades for rushes, shoulder checks, and wide sweeping blows. Even one hit is enough to either kill or cripple.

Warning Advisory: Okeer is also very heavily armored. His strength is enormous – nothing has ever matched it - and if he has cybernetics or not is currently unknown. Only a handful of souls have survived fighting Okeer in combat and _none_ of them wished to repeat the experience.

* * *

 **Physical Abilities:**

In terms of sheer physical strength and durability, only a yahg – and a strong one at that – can match Okeer. He is extremely strong and nimble, with a staggering knowledge of martial arts styles, melee styles and combat experience. He has shrugged off being directly hit with an anti-tank weapon twice in his life and has walked off, among other things, multiple gunshot and stab wounds, explosives, shrapnel, and a biotic flare.

All krogan regenerate rapidly, but Okeer regenerates even more rapidly than most. Due to his vast size he can be out maneuvered by smaller foes, but even a single punch can shatter the carapace of a turian or turn the entire ribcage of an asari or human into splintered bones.

Okeer was a professional soldier, general, and admiral for longer than most beings have been alive. His experience in almost every form of combat and terrain is only matched by his ability to grasp and counter enemy tactics, as he as literally seen it all.

* * *

 **Mental and Psychological Notes:**

Okeer's intellectual scale was rated as extremely high. The asari/human IQ scale rated him as 192, the turian scale as 68 of 70. He is a highly indirect, multi-linear thinker more akin to a salarian than the normal plodding krogan mentality. Okeer has long mastered his emotions. His anger and frustration are tools, he does not allow himself to get 'sloppy' and he rarely if ever loses his temper completely.

He appears to be an objectivist thinker, focusing on small details and large sweeping concepts with equal skill. He engages enemies based only on their ability to interest him or challenge him.

Okeer will move from strategic to tactical thinking as needed, and often challenges himself to avoid being predictable. He is well known for extremely long range planning and multiple contingencies, while acknowledging that the more complex the plan, the more likely it is to fail. His most famous quip, 'Complex does not mean competent', is his watchword.

Okeer is highly trained in xenopsychology and finds all races endlessly fascinating. Unusually for krogan, he has dallied in romantic or sexual liaisons with asari, turian, and drell females, and was an on-and-off visitor and lover of Matriarch Thessial of Clan Steelshape about three centuries ago. He does not consider most aliens his equal, but he does not condescend or underestimate their danger either.

Psychologically? Okeer is a blank. His legendary politeness and calm demeanor have frustrated attempts to divine much of his thinking for millennia – his psych profile is nothing but guesswork and conjecture, and has not once allowed us to successful predict or model his behavior. He is a fan of playing the game of thorus (thought-seek) and rarely loses. He has written no less than six books of what he calls 'Points of Irrelevance', which while passing as commentaries on krogan history and culture provide the only real insight into his method of thinking.

Based on what we can ascribe to him, if he had a philosophy it would be one of preparing for all things and setting up such plans so that seeming to thwart them actually enables them. It cannot be understated that Okeer has had thousands of years to investigate and understand aliens – even the oldest asari matriarch is a child to him.

* * *

 **Political and Social Notes:**

Okeer has spent millennia carefully cultivating friends and allies, balancing one against another to garner influence and offset ramifications for his more troubling or illegal actions. He is close friends with several influential asari matriarchs, admired by many turians, and has been called a "Living Light" by the hanar priesthood. He has had audiences with six Batarian Emperors and is the only known being that an Emperor has EVER addressed with the value-neutral 'vau' rather than the inferior-implied 'veth' when speaking to him. His connections are vast and deep, and even when his actions turn to the appalling, his smooth manner wins forgiveness.

Attempted modeling of his actions and socializing seems to indicate Okeer continues to attempt to present himself as the only logical candidate for krogan leadership. While many krogan on and off Tuchnanka would no doubt laugh at such a concept, the fact remains that only Okeer and a few of his clan retain active citizenship on the Citadel and have free travel permissions to and from areas of CDEM control.

Okeer has not had any interactions that we know of with quarians, elcor, or humans, and only deals with volus on matters legal and financial.

Okeer has written a very popular series of historical novels covering the entire sweep of his life, and special care is taken to place many asari, salarian and turian actions in the best possible light. A more cynical view would see these as blatant flattery, but a more nuanced analysis shows that while he is placing such acts in a good light, he is also commenting on how they often have unintended consequences.

Okeer's personal politics are, given his age, shocking liberal. He considers crime a function of who has the strength to have their way, and law as civilization's hand upon barbarism, rather than a goal of its own. He has often criticized the way the batarians, humans and quarians were handled.

* * *

 **Warnings:**

The following advisories are considered mandatory reading.

 **Combat of any kind, for any reason, is strictly contraindicated.** Look, it is simpler and definitely less painful to just kill yourself. This is not a typo.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:** I'm a bad person. _

* * *

Ganar Okeer looked down somewhat doubtfully at the tiny asari child, folding his thick arms across his barrellike chest. His deep baritone voice rumbled out, polite but still coolly forbidding.

"Does your mother know you are out beyond the House walls, Sea Lily?"

The young face of Thana T'Armal scrunched up in a pout, her blue eyes finding his and not looking away. "Saana is busy. And Mother is also busy. If they do not have time for me then am I just supposed to sit around?"

The much larger krogan looked around, glancing over the sparkling edifice that was mighty Serrice. Built upon the giant out-thrust spur of the tallest of the Skypillar Mountains, the city was split by three huge ridges of rock. The Thirty and their Lesser houses had their domiciles carved into these blue granite ridges, while the Clans occupied the valleys between them, and the clanless radiated outwards to the edge of the city wall, done in brown stone and harder than laser steel.

The doctor gave a sigh and with one hand lifted the tiny asari girl up onto his wide shoulder, ignoring her giggles. She settled herself upon the back of his hump, hands gripped tightly to the cowl of his ancient bronze armor, and cheered as he set off with a long, loping stride away from the House proper.

She did not notice the pair of House huntresses trailing them, or the single war priestess following at a discreet distance. Okeer tapped a quick message into his omni-tool to the girl's mother before heading down the wide, silver-stone paved path leading into the city proper.

"Velar Okeer..." Thana's voice was quieter than usual, as she used an asari term for trusted distant relative.

"Yes, little one?"

"...why does the Matriarch of the T'Shora keep saying we should eliminate the krogan? I know I'm too young to understand everything, but... everyone likes you. And your sons. You have asari daughters, like Aunt Vheza. Why..."

She trailed off, and Okeer's voice became musing. "The asari people are the strongest in the galaxy, because of one thing. It is not your technology, little one, or your biotics. Neither the strength of your military nor your economic might. You are powerful and unmatched because of your unity. Due to this, even the disaffected in your society rarely if ever act against its best interests."

He nodded politely to a pair of asari maidens walking up the road, taking in their T'Armal robes, and sidetracked down a metalled path to overlook the rushing waters of the Vesina as they crashed down the mountainside. The cool spray in the wind invigorated him and his muzzle parted in a pleased exhalation as he continued.

"Most of the peoples in the galaxy are not so... unified. The salarians struggle almost as much with one another as they do outsiders and the SIX are, at best, of divided minds. The turians are almost dysfunctional in terms of unity, as those who do not feel represented by the Hierarchy will never bend or support the High Primarch. The volus only care for money and intrigue against one another."

He grimaced. "But only my people, in all of the known races, have literally attempted to obliterate ourselves. Not even the turian Days of Fire were as bad as the Wars of Blood. We destroyed our own world, young one – and then when given a chance to join something greater, turned our backs on what was right to inflict violence and bloodshed on those who had only helped us."

Thana's mouth hardened. "People are stupid. They think they can just take something instead of working to get it."

Okeer erupted into laughter, a sound Thana always loved to hear. "You are wise for one so young to grasp this. The krogan are indeed a rather thick-headed species. Most of our Loremasters and Loresingers... died in the Rachni Wars."

He paused. "It is a lament, really, that you cannot sit in the ancient timbered halls of the Long Wall, with crackling fires and fresh meat and hot, dark black vova bread smeared with vheng honey, and listen to the Loremasters. To hear Old Baida tell of the flaming heart of Vhurga, He Who Was Krogan, as he battled the devils of the waste to save his mate. Or listen to the golden voice of Shurgia, as she sang of the Rachni demons as we slew them and triumphed."

His head dipped and bowed, he came at last to the overlook of the waterfall, silvery streams cascading down broken spars of rock and erupting into flashing, glittering spans. Rainbows arched through the mist, as the clean waters of the Huasa Pool far below rippled with the falls, the gleaming blue witchlights of Athame's Eyes deep and mysterious below the water.

"My people have lost most of who they are and were, Sea Lily. We are no longer a people whole and entire. What passes for leadership among the wild tribes of Tuchanka are morons bartering intimidation and posturing on the battered exhausted flesh of what fertile females remain, while our mothers wail tears and hold the broken, stillborn frames of krogan youth, who never drew breath. Our colonies are arrogant mercenary packs of hooligans who, unless I am mistaken, will do something stupid and very ignorant in the near future."

His voice grew hard. "The T'Shora Matriarch wishes my people dead because we are a liability, little one. We are a force that will follow any strong leader, that disdains wisdom and learning for fighting and war, that sneers at intellect and competence for charisma and grandstanding. I have not returned to Tuchanka since before your mother was born out of disgust."

Thana took all this in. "Do you think the krogan will change?"

He sat down upon the bare stones, heavy legs bending only slowly in his thick armor. His unlined muzzle lifted to sniff the winds, and he tilted his head. "Perhaps. There are many ways to change the nature of a single person. It is harder to alter the course of a nation, much less an entire race. But not impossible. But before that happens, my people have many more years of suffering and loss to endure. Only when the way they chose on their own has been proven not only false but fatal will they finally bend to reason, intellect and culture."

Thana shifted her position, staring at the waterfalls. "...why don't you just make them? You're the strongest krogan – and my cousin in the Justicars said you're the strongest person in the galaxy."

Okeer smiled at that. "Flattery is always appreciated but should never be internalized. I am certainly the eldest being. The strongest? There have been stronger in years past – stronger krogan, stronger asari, stronger turians – and there will be stronger ones in the future. One day I will face a warrior beyond me, who will meet me in single combat and not flinch from death like so many others who have challenged me."

He bowed his head. "It is a... vision I had. A figure in white, with a sword of fire. Could be an asari, or a batarian, or even a turian – it is unclear. I have fought and killed five who wore white so far and none have even harmed me, so I must wait."

He looked back up at the water, and the cliffs beyond. "But to answer the question more directly, Sea Lilly – you cannot defeat ignorance with a hammer, nor destroy arrogance with a gun. You cannot beat stupid out of a million heads. The krogan could not stop me if I decided to 'rule' them – the CDEM would happily aid me."

His voice got soft. "But they would not bow to me. They would not listen, even as they did not listen when I told them they were marching to ruin. They do not value the songs of the asari or the wonderful stories of the salarian. They do not admire the grim arts and music of the turian or the beauty in that which is alien. I cannot 'make' them until they are willing to admit they were wrong."

Thana nodded. "...but what if they never do?"

Okeer turned his head a bit, enough so that his pale green bulbous eye was visible to hers, glowing with mischievous amusement. "Oh, I think I will find a way one day. The beauty of dealing with those who refuse to accept the primacy of intellect is they fail to recognize when their actions are not of their own volition."

Thana leaned against the warm metal of the back of his armor. "Fishbits. You should just stay here, Velar Okeer. We like you."

Okeer said nothing for long moments, his massive hand touching the rocks he sat on in a pattern. "I have long considered doing just that. To simply admit that I am as much a victim of hubris and arrogance as my kin. That my own pride and stung ego is more to blame for my rejections of what the krogan have become than any benevolent impulses."

He grunted and stood, and his voice rang out with its usual baritone hardness. "But I am the Eldest, and there is that which only I can achieve. The rachni are not the last monsters we as a galaxy may face, and the rest of your various species..." He chuckled. "You are mostly made of water, for Kalros's sake. How you small people even beat mine can be granted more to the rock-headed stupidity of the Emperor than any ability of the asari, salarians or turians."

"Hey!" She beat a tiny fist on the back of his armor. "The asari are powerful you said! We have war priestesses! And... and Justicars! And commandos!"

Okeer snorted. "I lost my respect for war priestesses when the first one I beheld died to a mine that cost sixty credits, due to her arrogant trust in her barrier field." He paused. "And therin lies a lesson you should learn at all costs, little one. No foe is invincible. No matter how strong or powerful they may seem, if you can out-think them and play upon their own blind spots, you will always triumph."

 **STG-STG-STG**

Centuries later, an old asari entered a climate controlled room, followed by two younger asari, and beheld the figure lying dead upon the stasis field bed.

Thana T'Armal remembered the warm halcyon days of her maiden years, when her only worries were if the flirtation of Senna Vabo was real or just teasing, and the bulk of Okeer carrying her pigaback around as if he were her personal war chariot.

She took in the wounds, carefully dressed by krogan and asari morticians, and the gleaming finish of his armor, repaired from the battle with the Butcher. She took in his gnarled, massive hands, folded over his mighty chest, empty of the weight of the hammer God-Splitter.

She bowed her head, as Okeers grandnieces behind her wailed softly, and managed not to do more than exhale softly and deeply. After a moment she found her voice's proper hardness, and turned to the two krogan in the room.

"I am aware Okeer is your war-father and the eldest, and that his rites called for him to be laid to rest in the warm sands of Tuchanka. But he is also blood kin to us as well. I would ask you permit us to send a tithe of our people, lead by his grand-daughters and grand-nieces, to perform our own rites."

The tallest krogan bowed. "Queen Matriarch. The Warfather said you would wish to perform the Remembrance. We plan to take him to Tuchanka, that is true, and hold a ceremony there. But he has asked that he be... Remembered... and incinerated not on the world that spurned him, but on Thessia, at the falls of Vesina."

Memories rose up to assail Thana then, and even her control could not hold back tears of memory and sunny days, the smell of mist and the crash of sound as the waters tumbled far below, and Okeer's many words of guidance and advise. With a careful, slow motion she wiped her eyes, and bowed her head in respect. "Words will not convey my gratitude to you for this. Thank you."

The lead krogan nodded curtly, but his own voice was soft. "That he has fallen...I cannot believe, even now. He could have evacuated!"

Thana gave a bitter laugh at that. "Okeer would only run from a battle that had no meaning." She paused. "And... centuries ago, he said he had a dream, of a figure in white with a sword of fire defeating him in battle." She looked up. "I think he knew Death raced to embrace him, and he would not be Okeer if he did not merely laugh at it and meet it head on, now would he?"

She turned to the two younger asari. "Inform the House Entire, and the Lesser House, that we will assemble at the Halls of Memory in a month's time... to sing the longest Dirge of Remembrance that has ever been sung."

She turned back to face her mentor, uncle, and friend. "To celebrate the mighty life and death of Ganar Rethet Okeer. Warmaster, Eldest, and beloved."


End file.
